Weekend DIY: Changing A Light On Your Fan

There have been a couple of projects that I have been dabbling in ever since purchasing my house at the end of January. Things need to be changed out, painted, fixed, etc. So I figured I might as well chronicle these events!

Saturday afternoon I came to the conclusion that the single light fixture on our fan just wasn't cutting it in the brightness department in the mater bedroom and it was time to change it. I am now going to show you how to do that. The best part? This should take you less than a half an hour to do!

Tools needed:
1. Your new light fixture
2. a phillips and flat head screw driver
3. You new light fixture
4. Wire twist connectors (if they are not included with your new light)

Starting your project

Not only does the light produce enough light, it doesn't match the rest of the fan. This drove me nuts and I knew it was going to be one of the very first projects that I was going to do when I entered the world of home improvement.

The new light fixture

I went to my local home improvement store and found a light that had more than one bulb outlet and close matched the existing fan.

Installation

First things first, locate your breaker box.

Finding the right breaker

I have lived in quite a few places that did not label what breakers controlled fed electricity to a specific room. If you are in this situation, you are just going to have to start flipping and could have someone yell at you when the correct breaker is off. If you are alone and doing this job, you'll be doing a lot of running back and forth. Thankfully, my breakers are labeled, so I didn't have to do but one trip to verify that the electricity was indeed off. Flip the breaker...

Fixture removal

It's now time to get rid of the old fixture in preparation for the new! Take the existing light bulb out of the socket.

Then the glass shade surrounding the socket.

There are three screws that hold the fixture to the fan, remove all three. Be sure to secure the screws somewhere like your pocket. If you lose any of the screws, you're going to have a bad time.

Screws removed... Wires, wires everywhere!

Make sure you document your live and ground wires. In this case, white to white and blue to black. Unscrew the twist on wire connectors and remove the fixture.

Removing the old light fixture from the base

Now that you have the old light fixture removed from the fan, it is time to remove the base.

This was simple since the base is threaded, just unscrew it and you are good to go!

Installing your new fixture to the base

Open the box containing your new light... This photo is showing that I simply I do what I want!

The new light fixture needs to be attached to the base now. Remove the nut and washer.

Feed the electrical wires through the hole and tighten... That simple!

Installing your new light on to the fan

You're doing great! You haven't cut or electrocuted yourself or lost any parts yet... Pat yourself on the back for a job well done so far! Let's put up the new light!

Blue to black, white to white. Twist the wires together and secure with a twist on wire connector and be sure there are no loose strands of wire poking out.

Align the cut out with your switch on your fan and screw holes. Then make note that you need to clean the dust bunnies off the fan.

Now that you have secured the fixture to the fan, it is time to add your light shades.

Then your light bulbs.

Head back to your breaker and cross your fingers that you did everything right... You know you did, but this step doesn't hurt any... Flip it!

Turn on your light and marvel at your fine handy work!

It's time to clean up your mess that you have proudly made.

While you are cleaning up, have a drink! You've earned it!

While you are enjoying your refreshment, you look around and enjoy the newly found light in your room... Then you begin to think that you need a new color in the room to make it "pop"... And now you have your project for next weekend!